Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, appalling human rights violations take place in my native homeland of Cuba on a regular basis and have only gotten worse in the past few years. Just last week, the Castro regime sentenced a man to a year in prison. What was his crime? He did not watch Fidel Castro's funeral on the television. And just a few months ago, Danilo Maldonado, also known as El Sexto, was arrested for writing ``he's gone'' on a wall after Fidel Castro's death. Mr. Speaker, the Cuban people lack the most basic of human rights, and they are punished for any sentiment that is not in accordance with the Castro regime. The former administration of this wonderful country failed the people of Cuba. Since the change in the Cuba policy, reports show that the humanitarian crisis has only gotten worse on the island. The 2017 Freedom in the World report put out by Freedom House showed that arbitrary arrests were at the highest level in 7 years. The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation documented a monthly average of 862 arbitrary detentions between January and November of last year. Raul Castro tries to silence the Cuban people by subjecting human rights defenders, journalists, and peaceful protesters to arbitrary arrest and short-term detentions. Castro also tries to cut any relation between the opposition and outside groups. Just last week, Mr. Speaker, Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, the OAS, was denied entry to Cuba.…”